I believe the last time I used the term “masterpiece” to describe an album was probably in discussing Andrew Marlin‘s first collection of instrumental work, “Buried in a Cape“. It’s not a term that should ever be used lightly, but in this case and most that involve Marlin’s work, it’s a title that holds steadfast and true.

In just a few weeks time the songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist released not one, but two incredible collections of instrumental songs. Each of which is a unique listening experience, two separate journeys really. I said it previously, but these two records are a pot-pourri of instrumental arrangements for both the types of folks who adore instrumental music and those who have not yet acquired a taste for it. Andrew’s instrumental songs have a way of speaking volumes without actually having any words within them. Rich palettes of emotion, place, space and vibe that in all my years of listening to instrumental records, I am yet to find an equal to.

For the sake of brevity, we’ll focus on the most recent record “Fable & Fire” here, but look for another highlight of “Witching Hour” to come…

The experience begins with a triple threat medley of songs titled “Stormy Point / Back of Beyond / The Seamstress” the tale effortlessly transitioning between each arrangement, flowing like a breeze and dancing in and our of your ear canal.  Some of the moments contained within feeling like almost an ancient glimpse into the past. The drones and pizzicato of strings interplaying with one another. There are some Celtic vibes embedded deep down in there, but its contents and feeling almost seem to predate time. A little dark. Ethereal and powerfully affecting. 

The trip is followed immediately by what feels like can only be described as: the best of late night festival jams c/o “Erie Fiddler” and Christian Sedelmyer’s high flying bowed lines. Like a hybrid jug band meets bluegrass bonanza. A jubilant celebration of sound, strings and the role that fiddle plays across the entirety of this record.

To avoid the cliche of saying a song with a bird reference “soars”, I’ll take a different route. “The Jaybird” to me feels like a slow Sunday drive down a dirt country road. Occasionally hitting downslopes and a few thrilling bumps along the way, the beauty and melding of the artists performances is never lost from the view out the windshield. Its a fresh breeze, its summer grass under your feet and yes…it indeed does soar.

“Farewell to Holly Buff/The Watch House” is mind boggling, it’s exciting and exhilarating in a “hold on for dear life” kind of a way. The tune is a prime example of what I think I find so miraculous about this group of musicians playing Andrew’s songs together. There is so much going on texturally all around the track, but it still feels so cohesive. That could be said about the entire record as a whole too. There’s always a thread, a trail of bread crumbs that leads back to the very core of this all. The community and trust built through creating together. 

In an interesting juxtaposition, Marlin describes the track “Ox-cart Man” as reminding him of how much meaning can be found in the mundane. Describing the track as essentially an account of what a pre-industrial family have made and harvested in a year, and while that idea may be considered nothing extraordinary, the visual that this story along with the arrangement induces is anything but. There is so much to delve into within the melody of these songs and in picking up an instrument and trying to pick up those intricately formed runs, you will quickly discover just how far from mundane they are.

The title track is a catalyst for the dynamic nature of all involved on the track. You can hear the individuality of each of their styles and personalities in a perfected fusion. The core ensemble of Josh Oliver, Jordan Tice, Clint Mullican, Christian Sedelmyer and Nat Smith are truly greater than the sum of their parts. The feeling of musicians being in a room, feeling and then consuming the energy that their contemporaries are putting off and using that vibrancy to impact their own performance. It is absolute magic.

“Old Pine Box” closes us out, with a somewhat somber and gray shading. It takes all of the pent up and aggregated fervor of the building voyage and lays the audience down in a gentle, comforting fashion. A beautiful closing to a breathtaking collection.

I was listening to “Fable & Fire” again over this past weekend while vacuuming and swiffering the floors in my house. I had moments where I physically felt the need to stop, sit down and cup my hands over my ear buds in my ears to listen more intently and feel more deeply. These songs have an almost gravitational force to them, pulling you deeper the further into the story you get. I chase that feeling constantly both in listening to music and performing with others. Marlin’s ability as a band leader and writer, allowing others to shine within the confines of his melodies and taking the lead when it calls for it, is purely magnetizing.

I came to a very real epiphany in my latest listening experience. I feel like we all could use a minute to just step back to breathe and take a very close look at the current musical landscape to realize what an absolute special time in musical history we are living in. The cast on this record only further cements that some of the greatest musical minds in history are living and creating right now…both within this group and the greater community of American Roots music, it is astonishing when you stop to reflect on that.

This collection is like it’s own, breathing organism. There is so much life and joy and beauty and even some self doubt and consideration throughout it all. Emotion captured and put on display in this sonic caging. It’s just so goddamn human and reminds you with each listen, what it is to be alive. And damn, if it doesn’t feel glorious…